Food meets flea at outdoor NYC markets

In the city there’s a food and flea market to satisfy the needs of every New Yorker. Check out three of our favorite.

The weekends are meant for unwinding and indulging. What better way to do that than tasting some of the city’s best food while shopping vintage?

In the city there’s a food and flea market to satisfy the needs of every New Yorker. Check out three of our favorite.

LIC Flea and Food

LIC Flea & FoodCredit: LICFlea.com

Queens is known for its ethnic diversity and the LIC Food and Flea represents that with a wide range of food offerings, which represent the borough. The outdoor market boasts 80 vendors per day including local staples such as Butcher Bar and Alodar.

They have a DJ every weekend to entertain the crowds, which include many families with their kids that in addition to sampling the food, shop for hand-made jewelry, leather bags and furniture from local artists.

“I’m a big fan of Long Island City and there’s been a lot of development in recent years,” said Josh Schneps, founder of the LIC Flea. “There are a lot of great restaurants in the area but not a lot of shopping. [The market’s] a great destination for the up-and-coming neighborhood.”

It seems like Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg is receiving a lot of attention recently, so much that the co-founder Eric Demby comments on having to give too many interviews lately.

As part of the Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg takes over the hipster neighborhoods of Williamsburg and DUMBO every weekend. As many as 5,000 people attend the market, which offers an assortment of foods and beverages from 75 to 100 vendors, including Asia Dog and Brooklyn Bangers.

The street fair that’s taken over the Lower East Side since 2010 and boasts vendors such as Ludlow Pizza and Ducks Eatery is rolling out a new initiative. Every Saturday for the month of August, the fair is switching is hours to noon to 10 p.m., brining in DJs such as DJ Brion Isaacs of Rivington House and Le Baron (8/10), and opening up a beer and wine garden.

“The idea behind August Nights was to give people more time to shop and create a weekend night market,” said Sanyu Kyeyune, vendor relations associate. “It’s meant to up the energy of the fair and create a block party atmosphere.”

Come September, the fair will resume its regular 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours through the end of October.

Just as other markets start closing down in October, the new Gotham West Market in Hell’s Kitchen will be launching. The market will be housed on the ground floor of a new residential building and will take up an entire city block. Vendors will include The Cannibal, Brooklyn Kitchen and Blue Bottle Coffee.